Japan Cup: First win in last race of 2013 for Michael Rogers

Australian solos to victory, Bauer, Cunego and Arredondo sprint it out for second

He had to wait until his very last race of the season to clock up his first win of 2013, but Michael Rogers ended things on a good note when he picked up victory in the Japan Cup today.

After his team chased down the early break, the Team Saxo Tinkoff rider got clear in a small group towards the end of the 151.3 kilometre, 1.HC-ranked race, coping well despite torrential conditions.

The Colombian Julián Arredondo (Nippo – De Rosa) attacked and had a gap, but fell on the slippery roads of the descent, losing his chance of victory.

Rogers then pushed ahead with the young Briton Josh Edmondson, the duo pulling clear before Rogers pushed on alone and held on until the line.

“On the penultimate climb, Rory (Sutherland) and Evgeny (Petrov) did an amazing job, narrowing down the front group to just seven or eight riders,” he said after the mountainous race, explaining how things played out. “Soon I was alone with Edmundson (Sky).”

Rogers then decided to make sure of the win by attacking rather than taking his chances in a two up sprint. “In the finale, I managed to go solo and was actually able to enjoy the final kilometres as the margin kept growing.”

He rolled in 44 seconds ahead of Jack Bauer (Garmin-Sharp), double race winner Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Merida) and Julian David Arredondo Moreno (Nippo De Rosa) while Sky’s David Lopez was a further six seconds back.

Manuele Mori (Lampre-Merida), Joe Dombrowski (Sky) and Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Omega Pharma Quick Step) also finished under a minute behind; Edmondson faded towards the end but hung on for tenth.

Other riders such as Ivan Basso (Cannondale) and Dan Martin (Garmin Sharp) were not in the running for victory, fatiguing after a long season.

Team Saxo Tinkoff directeur sportif Philippe Mauduit was, predicably, delighted with how things worked out for Rogers and the team.

“In the beginning of the race, a small group managed to create a gap but the big teams worked together in the chase and had the race under control,” he said. “Our boys did a perfect job setting up Michael for the finale and when Michael first got a gap, he went in to time trial mode and was impossible to catch.”